ONTARIO – Conner Henry is looking forward to a homecoming of sorts tonight.

Henry, a Claremont High School graduate who has traveled the world and now is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles D-Fenders in the NBA’s Development League, will be on the bench tonight when his team plays an exhibition basketball game at Citizens Business Bank Arena.

Arena General Manager Steve Eckerson is hoping game leads the D-Fenders, owned and operated by the Lakers, to think seriously about making Ontario their home.

Henry and Eckerson are hoping to come away winners when the D-Fenders face the Bakersfield Jam. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

“The goal is to have a great crowd supporting the D-Fenders and hopefully convince the Lakers to move the team to Ontario,” said Eckerson, who has seen the Lakers draw well in annual exhibition games in Ontario and has been talking to the team about the D-Fenders for three years.

Those talks finally netted tonight’s game, a trial run Eckerson hopes impresses the Lakers with local support for players who someday hope to play in the NBA.

“We know how strong the Lakers brand is out here,” Eckerson said. He added ticket sales as of Thursday afternoon were fair but hopefully would pick up.

“Well, I’m aiming for a sellout of 10,000, but I think that’s a little unrealistic,” he said. “It’s been my goal to have 5,000. I don’t know if we’ll get there, but that’s what I’m shooting for.

“Now that the D-League is developing more players who are moving up, having a team here would be great for the community.”

The D-Fenders last season had eight players get call-ups to various NBA teams, a D-League record. They won a league-record 38 games and lost to the Austin Toros in the final.

One of the reasons for that success was Henry, whose job is to help win a few games but whose bigger goal is helping give players a shot to advance their careers.

Henry played two seasons in the NBA for four teams, including the Boston Celtics in their Larry Bird-Kevin McHale heydays, and his basketball playing journey took him to the CBA and then to Europe for 10 years after a standout college career at UC Santa Barbara that was capped when he was taken by the Houston Rockets in the fourth round of the 1986 draft.

Henry played in Spain, Italy and Greece before his playing career as a 6-foot-7 shooting guard ended. He started focusing on coaching and assisted at Claremont-McKenna College from 2001 to 2006.

He then headed to Australia for four years and coached in Sydney and Perth before returning to the U.S. and joining the D-Fenders staff.

Experience faraway lands while competing in the game he loves? Yeah, Henry has no complaints.

“Basketball has allowed me to see the world, to be a part of successful teams and do what I love to do,” Henry said. “I’m blessed.”

Henry acknowledged it takes a particular mind-set to enjoy a basketball career in Europe. The main thing, he said, is to adapt and be willing to try new things.

“Some guys don’t make it. They get too homesick,” he said. “There’s the language barrier and they don’t make an effort there.

I always tell people make an effort. When you do, doors open. People go the extra mile to make you feel included.

“There’s the perception of the ugly American who goes over there and only eats at McDonald’s, only goes to the tourist spots, then leaves and comes home and says, `Europe was OK.’

“Really, there’s so much to see in other countries. I try to tell guys to enjoy it. Make sure you get out. Don’t sit in your apartment constantly. See the countryside, take a couple of hours and drive to another country. It was a very enjoyable experience for me.”

The most enjoyable experience? That was easy: Spain.

“I loved the food, I loved being able to have a siesta during the middle of the day and then practice at night, enjoy the night life and then do it all again,” he said, laughing.

While he savored his time as a player in Europe and then as a coach in Australia, Henry never forgot growing up in Claremont.

Henry’s father taught at Claremont-McKenna College and his mother in Upland for 28 years, he said. While young Conner got his academic education the traditional way, his athletic endeavors were helped by the fact his house was located on the edge of the Claremont-McKenna campus.

He’d usually spend a good six hours after school on the college grounds, mostly on the football field, baseball diamond or in the gym. He served as a ballboy for all three teams and learned plenty from coaches.

“It was an ideal place for me growing up,” he said. “I had everything out my back door – literally. I was over there until midnight, usually every night. I’d come home and crawl through a hole I cut in the fence.

“That was my sanctuary, being in the gym.”

It still is. He’d like to move farther up the coaching ladder, but said he doesn’t obsess over it.

“I like getting up and going to the gym every day and helping players improve,” he said. “I try to get better every single day as a coach, and hopefully opportunities present themselves.”